144 The Ohio Journal of Science [Vol. XIX, No. 2, 



In the purview of the present paper the following names 

 remain unidentified: aeatus Walker (see discussion under 

 aimatis n. sp. further on), carolinensis Schiner, flavescens 

 Macquart, fiavipila Macquart, georgina Wiedemann, lasipes 

 Wiedemann, melanogaster Wiedemann (all black species have 

 been disregarded, because only females have been seen) and 

 terrae-novae Macquart. Excepting aeatus, lasipes and melano- 

 gaster, these species would appear to be of the Dasyllis type. 

 After all eliminations (and two additions) there are considered 

 in the present discussion the following previously named 

 species of Laphria: canis Williston, carbonarius Snow, disparella 

 Banks, felis Osten Sacken, ferox Williston, franciscana Bigot,. 

 gilva Linnaeus, rapax Osten Sacken, sadales Walker, saffrana 

 Fabricius, sericea Say, ventralis Williston, vivax Williston and 

 vultur Osten Sacken. Ten new species are described, viz. : 

 aimatis aktis, coquillettii, index, ithypyga, janus, sicula, scorpio, 

 trux, and win?iemana. 



Arrangement of the species of Laphria to indicate relation- 

 ships is attended with the difficulty usual to such endeavors. 

 The linear series to which we are reduced by the limitations 

 of printed pages, is unsatisfactory. A sphere is a better figure 

 to accommodate our conception of the origin and relationships 

 of the members of any evolutionary group. The hypothetical 

 ancestry is at the center, while descendants occupy positions 

 in various directions and at varying distances from the center 

 according to the line of their specialization and the degree of 

 their departure from the type. Closely related forms may be 

 ranged side by side, but relationships of any degree between 

 forms wherever located may be indicated by the lines which 

 conceivably may connect any points in such a figure. 



Though it would be possible to construct a model embodying 

 a conception of this nature, and even to reproduce it in a fairly 

 satisfactory way by photography, as a rule such a concept will be 

 mental only. Since practical considerations demand a linear 

 arrangement, one for the species of Laphria examined by the 

 writer is submitted, though not without misgivings. While 

 other features have been given some consideration, the char- 

 acters of the male hypopygium have had preponderant weight in 

 governing the arrangement. Increasing use of genital char- 

 acters is a conspicuous tendency of modern taxonomic entomol- 



